The modelling of career options and Continuing Professional Development

Abstract

The aim of the research was to generate a model of the interactions between career options and the concept of continuing professional development. Professional development has, in many professions and organisations, become synonymous with managerial development, but the developmental needs of individuals who wish to remain in a professional role may differ from the developmental needs of individuals in a management role. Teachers were chosen as the professional group to be tested. Fifty-four teachers, all volunteers, from six secondary schools were separately interviewed under a structured format, and were also invited to complete a number of questionnaires. From analysis of the interviews and questionnaires a model of teachers' career options was produced which identified three main categories of teachers: senior managers (headteachers or deputy headteachers); aspirants to a senior manager's role; and classroom teachers. The analysis also identified a number of main factors, and sub-factors, that affected the obtaining of one of the three categories and each of the factors was developed through a targeted literature search and through analysis of the structured interviews. An additional number of factors that related only to classroom teachers were also analysed in a similar manner. Also investigated are how teachers plan their career, and the value of continuing professional development. The model of career options was then tested on members of two similar professions -midwives and nurses. Completion of the research resulted in a proposed model of career options and recommendations for continuing professional development for each option. Together the model and recommendations represent an original contribution to knowledge.